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•'AN OUNCE OF PREVENTION IS WORTH A POUND OF CURE." 

PRACTICAL THOUGHTS 

(More Especially in the Interest of Agriculture) 



M 







MOST DESTRUCTIVE TO VEGETATION, &c., &C., 

IIA.TS, MICE, MOLES, 

COTTON WORMS, POTATO BUGS 

AND INSECT LIFE GENERALLY, 

TOGETHER WITH ADVICE FOR THEIR 

Prevention and Extermination. 



By robt. t. creamer 

ANALYTICAL CHEMIST AND ENTOMOLOGIST, 

(late of loulsiana.) 



delivered before the 
FARMERS' CLUB, AMERICAN INSTITUTE, 

AT 

COOPER INSTITUTE, NEW YORK, 

JUNE 21 AND JULY 1, 1879. 
John Polhemus, Printer, *2 Nassau Street, New York. 



A NEW DISCOVERY! 

Oti - n ii' \ convinces all who try it that the serious damage and great 
lyance caused to almost every farm and household by 
RATS, MICE, MOLES, CROWS, &c., &c., 
can be prevented by the use of 

PROFESSOR MITCHELL'S 

POISONED WHEAT, 

NATURE'S OWN REMEDY 

For the Extermination of 

Those Destructive and Loathsome Pests. 

1^" This article is the natural Wheat (in the whole grain), so 
chemically prepared as to be wonderfully destructive to all PESTI- 
LENT VERMIN. 

fi^" Remember that it is not claimed to kill off all your R*ATS, 
for that usually causes a great annoyance from steneh. Its great 
merit is predicated upon its certainty to drive the pests away from 
your premises. 

(// is tvcll knoimt that the cunning and instinct of J^ats for self-presej-- 
"coiion is mh-vcllotis, hence they ivill invariably abandon any locality 
7. /r?r any inimical movement, which they are quick to detect, is being in- 
augurated against them. ) 

£^"^ MICE, MOLES, &c., are almost instantly destroyed by it, 
dying on the very spot where the Wheat is placed ; hence the Mice 
can be easily thrown where the stench is not offensive. 

TRY IT AND BE CONVINCED. 

Two Sizes. Price 25 and 50 Cts. per Package. 

A Sample Package sent postpaid on receipt of the price. 
Sold by all Drugg/sls and Dealers in General Merchandise. 

'^M" Full directions accompany each package. 

Prepared under the superintendence of Dr. R. T. CREAMER, 
Analytical Cin^MisT and Entomologist, No. 956 Eighth Ave- 
nue, New Yore, io whom all applications for Sample Package must 
be made. 

Messrs. DAVID M. STIGER & CO., 

WHOLESALE DRUGGISTS, 

No. 58 BARCLAY STREET, NEW YORK, 

WHOLESALE AGENTS. 
Bf transfer rrotx 

I^Bt. Office Lib, 



^ o^<^ ■' PREFACE. 

npHIS pamphlet is published at the solicitation of numerous plant- 
ers and farmers with whom I have corresponded for a series of 
^ years on the subject-matter to which it relates. 

jv~- My thirteen years' residence in the South, during which time I 
-; gave much attention and research to these matters, has given me 
unusual facilities for practical knowledge, especially in regard to 
those two greatest of all destructive pests to agriculture, viz. : 

^}\Q dottoi\ Wo/ir\ ki\d Potkto 8ug (of Beetle). 

While pursuing that branch, however, I haj&r^npti 4pieen. iinraifrdful 
of many other noxious and loathsome pest/^otli to /T/ ■^', n 

FIELD AND FIRESI-i>E/ ^^'^ ..^ 

and have endeavored, under the heading of "tfeg2iajg^i,£L£»*^^tive 
kinds of Vermin, to give such information as will prove of incalcu- 
lable value to the public generally. 

I launch this Book amidst a sea of " Patent Nostrums" {ivhich I 
believe have all 7?iore or less failed in their mission), in the hope to se- 
cure for the remedies I propose a fair share of public favor, and 
thus CONVINCE all who need assistance in such matters that entire 
freedom and immunity can be secured against all forms of VER- 
MIN AND INSECT LIFE. 

Very truly, &c., 

ROBT. T. CREAMER, 

CHEMIST AND ENTOMOLOGIST, 

No. 956 Eighth Avenue, New York. 
Messrs. DAVID M. STIGER & CO., 

Wholesale Druggists and Manufacturing Cheviists, 

No. 58 BARCLAY STREET, NEW YORK, 

Wholesale Agents, 



FIRST PART. 



Rats, Mice, Moles, Crows, 



&;c-3 «Scc-3 Sec. 



A Paper on Destructive YEiiMiisr, Bugs, Worms and 
Insects, read by Dr. Robt. T. Creamer (late of 
Louisiana) before The Farmers' Club, Amer- 
ican Institute, at Cooper Institute, New 
York, June 21st, 1879. 

J/r. President and Members of the Olub : 

At occasional intervals during the present cen- 
tury, and frequently during the last decade, stren- 
uous efforts have been made by all the Commission- 
ers OF Agriculture for the several States, Agri- 
cultural Societies generally, and many others, to 
attract more general public attention to the con- 
tinual enormous increase of destructive Vermin, 
Worms and Insects, and the consequent very 
serious loss, especially of cereal products, caused 
thereby, with the view that the attention of chem- 
ists and naturalists might be more immediately di- 
rected to devise some cheap and practicable rem- 
edy which would tend to at least mitigate the 
serious damage and great annoyance which nearly 
every Agriculturist and Housekeeper, and, in 
fact, all classes of our people, almost daily and 



nightly experience from the inroads of some of the 
varied forms of 

Yermin and Insect Life. 

{The United States Entomological Commission, of which Prof. C. iV. 
Biley, Entomologist of the Department of Agriculture at Washington, 
is chief, are noio, by authority of law and under a large appropriation 
made by Congress, tramling through the Cotton States, with a view to 
especially investigate the cotton worm. They have already promulgated, 
through Prof. Riley, Chairman of the Commission, that the annual loss 
from that caterpillar ahne is upwards of $20,000,000.) 

Urgent demands have gone up from every branch 
of our industrial pursuits, from the rich as well as 
the poor, for some remedy which would check the 
enormous pecuniary loss from that source alone, 
which at the present time (including that of cereal 
products lost to growth by crows, grasshoppers, 
&c.) can be safely estimated as aggregating in the 
United States alone to fully 

$100,000,000 DOLLARS ANNUALLY ; 

but still the evil goes on gathering strength and vol- 
ume, and attracting but little of general public 
attention, and mostly then in the interest of some 
specific which was guaranteed at one fell swoop to 
destroy all the rats, mice, &c., in our dwellings, 
barns, ships, &c. ; another all the cotton worms and 
potato bugs in our fields ; another, all insects gen- 
erally in our kitchens and household ; and the 
result shows conclusively that there are at this pre- 
sent time more rats, mice, &c., and in their season, 
more cotton worms, potato bugs and insects than 
ever before. 

The remedies have all more or less failed, 
simply because they were predicated up- 
on causing instant death to the long list 
of noxious pests, rather than on the 



MEAlSrS OF THEIR PREVENTION AND RiDDANCE 
AS WELL AS THEIR DESTRUCTION. 

Any remedy, to be of noticeable value, at least so 
far as the extermination of rats is concerned, must 
also cover this ground, or it will be a failure, for 
there are myriads of those vermin, and it is simply 
an impossibility to destroy enough of them to ac- 
complish any marked favorable result. 

It is infinitely preferable to secure rid- 
dance OF Rats, rather than to poison a 

FEW AND THUS CREATE A HORRIBLE STENCH. 
''The REMEDY IN SUCH CASES IS WORSE THAN 
THE DISEASE," AND BESIDES, THE KILLING OF 
EVEN A SCORE OR MORE SECURES NO FREEDOM 
FROMjTHE PESTS. ThERE ARE PLENTY LEFT. 

RATS. 

As I propose to treat seriatim of the pests which 
are the source of our greatest damage and annoyance, 
I must speak of the Rat first. Of all the lower order 
of destructive animals tliey head the list, for they are 
ravagers at almost every FARM and fireside every- 
where. They more or less invade every building, 
and not a single vessel which traverses ocean, river, 
or canal is entirely free from them. 

Time will fail me to go into any elaborate descrip- 
tion of his natural history, their origin, character and 
habits, wondrous instinct and cunning, especially 
for self-preservation, the remarkable fecundity of 
the female, &c., &c. ; the main points are well known 
to you, and to the public generally, and so I will 
come at once to the more impoitant question. What 
can he done to cJieck the enormous increase of the 
species and the serious damage which he causes f 



6 

It is estimated that there are in the City of 
New York alone, not less than 100,000,- 

000 RATS. If this be so. and I HAVE NO REA- 
SON TO DOUBT IT, IT MAY WELL BE STARTLING. 

For a number of years my attention has been 
especially directed to a study of tlie habits and 
character of the Rat, Avith a view to devise a means 
which would tend to secure better protection and 
immunity from their ravages than anything hitherto 
devised. 

If, as has been fairly estimated, there are billions 
of rats, it is idle to indulge the hope that they can 
be decimated to any great extent by any specific 
which bases its claims for public favor upon its kill- 
ing capacity. A box of "Phosphorus Paste," 
which is the Rat Exterminator in general use, will 
produce no riddance or relief from the pests. Even if 
it has killed a few, the annoyance still remains, only 
to be intensified in a great degree, arising from the 
horrid stench which their dead carcasses create. A 
trap affords but little relief, for it is rarely of any 
use except^at its first setting. 

Any remedy to be worthy of public favor must 
take broader ground, for that above named has 
clearly proved inadequate. 

It must accomplish such results as to make the 
Rat shun the place where the specific is 
used. to drive him away from the prem- 
ises, and also possess such qualities as will 
tend to impair the great powers of fecun- 
dity in the female. 

{Five or six times a year, and frequently a hakefs dozen at a litter.) 

The result of a series of experiments for a num- 
ber of years, and the very large number of proofs 



tliat I now have in support of the theory, has 
convinced me that Wheat, the natural food of 
the Rat, can be so prepared as to be the best 
specific that has yet been devised. It is the 
natural wheat in the whole grain chemically 
prepared so as 'to be powerfully obnoxious to 
the rodent tribe after they have partaken a few 
grains of it, which they are sure to do, and will 
lead to their general abandonment to other quarters, 
and there, weak and puny, their vital powers im- 
paired, they soon fall a prey to death, if not sooner 
killed by the stronger of their species, which is 
very apt to be the case. 

{It is a well-known fact that an ailing rat is quickly killed by its com- 
rades. Like the buffalo, they suffer no sick one tofolloic the herd.) 

To such general approval has this chemically 
PREPARED Wheat attained, that I have been in- 
duced to put it on the market for general sale under 
the name of 

PROFESSOR MITCHELL'S POISONED WHEAT. 

I CLAIM AND ASSERT FOR IT, NOT THAT IT WILL IN- 
VARIABLY DESTROY ALL RaTS WHO PARTAKE OF 
ANY PORTION OF IT, BUT THAT, BASED UPON 
THEIR MARVELLOUS INSTINCT FOR SELF-PRESER- 
VATION, IT WILL SECURE TO THE LOCALITY 
WHERE IT IS USED THEIR ENTIRE ABANDONMENT. 

The result of numerous experiments with it has 
convinced me and others that Rats will leave any 
place where any inimical movement {which they are 
quick to detect) is being inaugurated against them. 
Some of them will greedily eat only a few grains of 
it, and finding that it has been tampered with, and 
the result, sickness, etc., that information will be 
quickly imparted to the others, and will inevitably 
lead to a general migration to other quarters. 



You, who are mostly practical farmers, well know 
that a string stretched around a corn field with a few 
pieces of bright tin attached, is about as good a 
scARE-CROw as Can be devised. If you will admit 
that crows regard that as a trap to ensnare them, 
and hence will avoid the field, with how much more 
probability must it be conceded that the same gen- 
eral idea can be carried out with Rats, for their cun- 
ning is infinitely greater than that of crows. {''It 
passes all understanding.''') 

Poisoned Wheat is predicated upon the same 
general idea, and my firm belief is that Rats, after 
they have eaten a few grains of it, regard it as a 
snare to destroy them, and will, as soon as a few or 
even one of their number, have partaken of it, will 

FORSAKE the: PREMISES WHERE IT HAS BEEN 
SPRINKLED AND TAKE ALL THE OTHERS WITH THEM. 

I also claim and assert for Poisoned Wheat, that 
it possesses such properties as to seriously impair 
the enormous iDrocreative functions of the female 
rat, and that its general use will tend to materially 
aid in their ultimate decimation, and that if it were 
in universal use it would eventually accomplish 
such a decrease of the species as to prevent any 
great pecuniary loss or damage from those that re- 
main The great damage that now occurs from 
their ravages is owing to their excessively immense 
numbers, and the consequent difficulty of procuring 
food for all, and large as it is, it is estimated by those 
who have given the subject attention and research, 
that if it were not for the feline race, they would 
double their numbers every decade. I am of the 
opinion that if it were not for that wise provision 
of nature to prevent an undue increase of the spe 
cies, we should be literally ovenun with them, and 
we could hardly keep our cereal products long 



enough to reach the mill. Now that it has hecome 
quite the custom to destroy the greater part of poor 
GrimalMm' slitter^ it stands us all in hand to de- 
vise something which will counterbalance thai 
molation of nature^ s laio. 

In this connection it is well als(> to know that 
since through the benign efforts of that prince of 
philanthropists, Mr. Henry Bergh, President of 
the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Ani- 
mals, RAT-BAITING has been stopped, which hereto- 
fore created a large demand for live rats, and has , 
hence checked the incentive to catch them for sale, 
and thus also prevent the practice which Mr. 'Ser- 
rier needs to become skillful in his profession, that 
also has added not a little to the apparent in- 
crease of rats in this city, and that it would be a 
wise and beneficial provision if he would now issue 
from his facile pen an urgent appeal to our citizens to 
stop the general wholesale destruction of the cats' 
litters, which now so generally prevails, and thereby 
aid in allowing the feline race to fulfill their rightful 
mission, which is a relentless and unceasing war 
upon those destructive and loathsoime pests. 

If it shall seem to some of you {as doubtless it 
may)^ that it is hardly possible that Wheat can be 
so prepared as to seriously impair the procreative 
capacity of Rats, I beg to remind you that Ergot of 
Rye, which is simply a fungus of rye, is well known 
to the medical faculty for its efficiency in a similar 
direction. Poisoned Wheat is somewhat analogous 
to spurred rye, as it is commonly called, and will 
act upon the rodent race in a similar manner. 

{Mr. Charles Oressler, a distinguished chemist and scientist, reforted 
to the American Journal oj Commerce, in July, 1861, that a fungus of 
Indian Corn, which hi called Ergot of Maize, had been known to pro- 
duce abortion in a Cow, and that a small quantity of it had 2)foduced 
a like effect on two pregnant hitches.) 



10 



MICE. 



Unlike the rat, mice have not the slightest instinct 
for self preservation, and are quickly and easily 
destroyed by the most minute poison. 

The ordinary House Mice, which are continually 
nibbling at everything eatable about our dwellings, 
and also making havoc with Books, Papers, Cloth- 
ing, Bedding, Gloves, &c., &c., render them a source 
of great annoyance. 

They are almost instantly killed by Poisoned 
Wheat, and find death on the very spot where the 
Wheat is placed, hence they can be easily thrown 
where the stench will not be offensive. 

Field Mice often abound in our grain helds 
in great numbers, in some seasons, in some locali- 
ties, and do much mischief in the Spring and 
Fall after the seed is sown. {Some few years ago 
they proved a terrible pest to farmers through- 
out Continental Europe^ so much so as to very 
materially enhance the price of Strychnia^ vjliich 
was universally used in large quantities for their 
extermination.) They can be easily destroyed in 
the same manner as the House Mice. 

Ground Mice are very destructive to tender roots 
and plants, and often do great damage in hot-houses 
during the Winter ; they seldom touch anything on 
the surface of the ground, so the Poisoned Wheat, 
to insure their destruction, must be placed in the 
ground as hereafter described under the heading of 
Moles. 

MOLES. 

It is a mooted question as to whether Moles are 
useful or not. They certainly are useful in their 
search for grubs and earth worms, which they con- 



11 

sume in large numbers, but in doing this, they are 
very apt to go right through a hill of corn, or the 
roots of any vegetable. In their "runs," come the 
ground mice which eat the vegetation, thus adding 
to the mischief. If tiiev are numerous, they 

CERTAINLY DO GREAT DAMAGE IN LAWNS AND GAR- 
DENS. 

I positively know that they will eat grain, not- 
withstanding it is claimed by some naturalists to 
the contrary. I have killed tb 3usands of them with 
the Poisoned Wheat. To do this, pierce the ground 
with a smooth stick, until the end of the stick reaches 
the hole through which the mole runs, then with- 
draw it gently to prevent the dirt from filling up 
the hole again, and through this drop a few grains 
of the wheat ; repeat this operation in several places 
of the track, or wherever new tracks appear. 

{See Extract from New York Independent, June 
26, 1879, on the subject of Moles ^ on page 14.) 

CROWS, PIGEONS, SQUIRRELS. 

Hardly any one but the practical farmer can fully 
realize the very serious loss and annoyance occa- 
sioned by Crows, especially in some localities where 
they greatly abound. The Commissioners of Agri- 
culture for several of the Western States always 
allude to this subject in their annual reports, and 
have placed the amount of Corn, Wheat, &c., lost 
to growth by their maraudings, as approximating 
into many millions of bushels. Like the rat. Crows 
also are wondrously cunning, and seem to know 
they are trespassing on forbidden ground, when 
they are watching a chance to alight on the recently 
planted corn field. 



12 

( I knew a farmer \n lio once placed an old open 
cotton umbrella in the center of his prospective 
com field, believing it would prove an inimitable 
scare-crow. Soon after a violent shower came up, 
and large numbers of the crows huddled under it 
until tlie rain was over.) 

PiGEois^s —Do more damage than many intelligent 
farmers are aware of ; especially, in their injuiy to 
KOOFS. In this respect they are a nuisance. I wish 
I could persuade farmers to get rid of them. 

Squirrels. — In some of the Far Western States 
and Territories, and especiall}^ in California, squir- 
rels are very destructive to agriculture, and means 
are extensively used for their extermination. 

For Crows, Pigeons and Squirrels— Nothing 
has ever been devised that presents so easy and 
perfect a method forgetting rid of them as Professor 
Mitchell's Poisoned Wheat. 

1^" Simply sprinkle a small quantity of it on "a 
flat stone or old board in various parts of the field, 
or where the pests "most do congregate," and the 
work is accomplished, and your crop is safe. All 
you hat^e to do is to he careful to keep it out of the 
reach of your chicTiens. Bogs and cats loiU not 
touch it. 

Sparrows — Also, aie quickly destroyed by the 
Wheat, and I recommend its use in case you desire 
to get rid of a surplus supply. 

it was my intention in this paper to treat also at 
some length upon the 

COTTON WORM, POTATO BUG AND OTHER INSECTS, 

but as 1 iiave -detained you too long already, I shal 
have to defer tliat part of my subject until the next 
meeting. I shall then dwell especially upon the 



13 

COTTON WORM AND POTATO BUG. 

And speak also of a remedy, 

PROFESSOR MITCHELL'S COLEOTHANATINE, 

wliicli can be nsed like Paris Green, either dry or 
in a liquid state, the cost of which is insignificant, 
a remedy which I positively know is equal, if not 
superior, in its destructive effects, to Paris Green 
and which possesses that great desideratum, 

NOT so POISONOUS TO HUMAN LIFE. 

I thank you for the kind attention you have 
given to my bumble endeavors to discuss this very 
important subject, and trust it may serve to induce 
others to " come to the front" for a general awak- 
ening in this matter, wliich is largely in the interest 
of that basis of all our national wealth and welfare, 
Agriculture ! Agriculture ! Agriculture ! 



14 



IFrom the New York Atlas, July 1st, 1879.] 
SOMETHING WORTH TRYING. 

At a recent meeting of the Farmers' Club, Dr. Heath introduced 
a gentleman whose remarks were listened to with great interest, and 
greeted with frequent rounds of applause. This gentleman was Mr. 
R. T. Creamer, of 956 Eighth avenue, New York, and his paper on 
"Rats, Mice and other Pests," was certainly an able production, and 
one containing many facs of value to farmers and housekeepers. It 
is unquestionable that the amount of property annually destroyed 
by the different kinds of pests, including crows, potato bugs, &c. , is 
represented by many millions of dollars, and any remedy for this 
wholesale destruction is well worth a trial. Mr. Creamer's remedy 
for rats, mice, crows, moles, &c., is his " Poisoned Wheat," a prep- 
aration which, if sprinkled where the vermin congregate, will either 
kill or frighten them away from the premises. With rats it has been 
found extremely efficacious, as their strong instinct for self-preserva- 
tion leads them to abandon any place where they have found it 
mixed with their daily food. 

Mr. Creamer certainly claims great things for his exterminator, 
and he expresses himself willing and anxious to substantiate every- 
thing he says. D. M. Stiger & Co., of 58 Barclay street, are his prin- 
cipal agents. — Ed. 



\From the Neio York Independent, June 26, 1879.] 
ARE MOLES USEFUL? 



Whatever may be said in favor of moles on general principles, we 
know by experience that they are a great nuisance, as well as dam- 
age, in either the lawn or garden. After being troubled and 
maddened with them for several years, we have lately found an ef- 
fectual means of destroying them by using poisoned wheat, which is 
put up by Prof Mitchell, and may be purchased at any drug store. 
The moles eat the wheat readily and it is sure death to them. The 
w^ay we have used the article has been to take a piece of stick about 
the size of one's little finger, made square on the end, and punch 
through the surface of the ground until the end of the stick reaches 
the hole through which the mole runs. Carefully withdrawing the 
stick, to prevent the dirt filling up the hole ai^ain, several kernels of 
the wheat are dropped into the hole. The operation is repeated in 
several places of the same track, and whenever new tracks are 
seen the dose is applied in the same manner. — Ed. 



15 

A FEW TESTIMONIALS AMONG THE MANY. 

Office of Chief of Police, ) 
New Orleans, La., Aug. 16, 1878. ) 
Messrs. R. T, Creamer & Co. : 

Oentlemen—\ used several packages of your MITCHELL'S 
POISONED WHEAT, not only at my residence, but also at some 
of our metropolitan precincts. We did not find any d%ad rats, but 
it seemingly proved a complete success in ridding us of rats, for we 
saw none for a long time after using it. Before that, they congre- 
gated in my back yard in scores, and I have seen dozens of them, 
even in the day time, from my back parlor windows. They caused 
us much damage, &c., so many thanks to you for their riddance. 
Very respectfully, &c., 

W. F. Loan, Chief of Police. 



Office of the New York Roofing Co., ) 
No. 437 East 23d St., 

New York, Jan. 6, 1879. ) 
Messrs. R. T. Creamer & Co. : 

Gentlemen— 1 am not able to make a very favorable report of 
the number of dead rats found on our premises after the use of 
MITCHELL'S POISONED WHEAT. This much I will say to 
you, that before we commenced using it we were literally overrun 
with rats at our various roofing depots, which caused us serious 
damage and annoyance, but we are now quite entirely cleared of 
them. I can only attribute their departure to the use of MITCH- 
ELL'S POISONED WHEAT, which, to my mind, possesses better 
properties for driving them away than it does for destroying them; 
perhaps it maizes them sick, or something of that sort, and so they 
seek out other quarters for their maraudings. If so, so much the 
better. Very truly, &c., 

John C. Moses, Vice-President. 



Office of Moore & Warren, ) 

No. 57 John St., [ 

New York, Jan. 17, 1879. ) 
Mr. R. T. Creamer. New York : 

We have used MITCHELL'S POISONED WHEAT, and find 
it does all you assert. We did not find any dead rats, but we are 
certain of one thing — they have left our preniisef^! 

Very respectfully, 

Moore & Warren. 



Clipper Srip Three Brothers, ) 
Pier No. 19 East River, V 

New York, April 30, 1879. ) 
Mr. R. T. Creamer : 

Send me three dozen more packages of Mitchell's Poisoned 
Wheat. It has accomplished wonders in ridding this ship of Rats, 
and I want to keep a stock on hand as part of our regular supplies 
in case the pests invade us again. It is the best thing 1 have ever 
tried. GtEorge Cummin g, Capt. 



16 



CHARGE OF THE RAT BRIGADE. 

Half a rod — half a rod — half a rod onward, 
Right through the holes they made 

Stole the six hundred. 
Too shrewd for trap or cat, 
Boldly they came and sat, 
Eating "The Wheat" Rat 
Ex — term — inator ! 

Now for fresh air they run, 
And as they writhe and burn 
Each afeks his mate in turn, 

Is this the E— qua — tor ? 
Then falling sick and flat. 
Men cry, apjjroving, "That 
Was Professor Mitchell's Rat 

Ex — term — inator " ! 

When will its triumphs wane ? 

Not while rats, mice, and moles remain, 

Not while it proves their bane 

Ex — term — ination. 
Sound, then, its j)raise so high. 
Nations abroad may cry. 
We, too, entreat to buy and try 
"Professor Mitchell's Wheat 

Ex — term — inator" ! 



17 



SECOisrr) pai^t. 



Cotton Worm, Potato Bug 

AND 

INSECT LIFE GENERALLY. 



A Paper on Destructive Yermin, Bugs, Worms and 
Insects, read by Dr. Robt. T. Creamer (late of 
Louisiana), before the Farmers' Club, American 
Institute, at Cooper Institute, New York, July 
1st, 1879. 

Mr. President and Members of the Club : 

You, who were present at the last meeting of the 
Club, will at once recognize this paper as being a 
continuation of the same subject upon which I had 
the honor to speak at that time. The fear of mak- 
ing my paper too long then impelled me after speak- 
ing at some length upon Rats, Mece, Moles, Crows, 
ETC., to defer that part of the subject which related 
more especially to "Insect Life" until another 
time. 

I am here to-day to resume that part of the sub- 
ject, and have called it the second part. 

You will remember that the burden of my theme 
then was more especially upon the enormous loss 
caused to the agriculturist by the vermin of which I 
then spoke, and it will be the same in this as ap- 
plied to the 



18 

COTTON WOEM AIN^D POTATO BUG (OR BEETLE). 

It is a source of general congratulation that the 
attention of Naturalists and Entomologists is now 
being actively called, not only under the patronage 
of the National Grovernment, but also of several of 
our State Governments, to the continual enormous 
depredations of the destructive pesfcs just named, 
as applied to our agricultural products. 

{The United States Entomological Commission, of loMch Prof. C 
N. Riley, Entomologist of the Department of Agriculture at Washing- 
ton, is chief, are now, hy authority of law and under a large appropria- 
tion made by Congress, traveling through the Cotton States, with a view to 
esptcially investigate the Cotton Worm. They have already promulgated 
through Professor Riley, Chairman of the Commission, that the annual 
loss from that caterpillar alone is upwards of $20,000,000.) 

The investigation of this subject is a necessity of 
the case and must in the end be productive of bene- 
ficial results, especially under the direction of Pro- 
fessoi- Riley, who stands at the head of his profes- 
sion, but it is greatly to be regretted that the com- 
mission was not inaugurated some years ago, before 
the evil became so evidently largely on the in- 
crease. 

In this connection, I trust I may be pardoned 
for saying that I am of the opinion that many of 
our professional entomologists have signally failed 
in providing a remedy which would check the evil, 
and that they liave seemingly been too much occu- 
pied with elaborate scientific dissertations upon the 
subject, which, while it is very useful and instructive 
to the student of natural history and to the science of 
entomology, possesses but little of interest or profit 
to the practical agriculturist. 

I regret that want of time precludes my going 
into as lengthy a treatise of the subject of insect 



19 

LIFE as the importance of the case demands. There 
are fully 5,000, perhaps more, varieties of vermin, 
bugs, worms, insects and parasites, each of which, 
in their sphere, are more or less destructive to vege- 
tation, and it is evident at a glance that the subject 
is so vast that any strictly scientific discussion of it 
is impracticable at this time, and even if it were, it is 
not, I take it, what is most desired before the Farm- 
ers' Club. I shall, therefore, endeavor to confine 
myself to a plain, practical talk about those two 
greatest of all destructive pests to vegetable life, 
which have in some instances destroyed an entire 
crop and rendered not a few planters and farmers 
farmless, viz. : 

The Cotton Worm and Potato Bug (or Beetle), 
and shall afterwards briefly touch upon such 
destructive bugs and insects as are our greatest 
household annoyance. 

Professor Riley, in connection with the work 
which the U. S. Entomological Commission is now 
making on the subject of the Cotton Worm, has 
foreshadowed some of the results of their labors, by 
promulgating the announcement "that it has been 
discovered that the Cotton Worm Moth hibernates 
and lays its eggs much earlier than was heretofore 
supposed, and that this fact alone will be of great 
value to the cotton planter, as they can now be on 
the lookout for the worms at ieast six weeks earlier 
than before." This is surely a point gained, but it 
evidences that but little was practically known 
upon the subject heretofore. He has also added 
thai the average annual loss from that worm alone 
is $20,000,000. The loss through the Potato Bug 
will doubtless aggregate to quite as much, and even 
more, for not al6ne does that bug often entirely 



20 

blight the potato field, but is equally as destructive 
to such tender vines as Melois", Squash, Cucumbee, 
Etc., Etc. 

THE POTATO BUG. 

It is a remarkable fact that this bug, or beetle, 
which is its more rightful cognomen, is quite a new- 
comer among us, and is a Far Westeris^ product. 

It first became known as a destroyer, west of tlie 
Mississippi, only about twenty years ago, and for 
several years was only known to the States and Ter- 
ritories lying west of that river. In 1865 it crossed 
the Mississippi, did great barm in 1866 and '67, in 
Missouri and other States lying on the border of the 
river, and has since steadily pressed its way to the 
Atlantic States and is now feared and dreaded in al- 
most every State of our Union. 

How comparatively easy a few years back to have 
destroyed this race of beetles, but how difficult now. 
It is not too late to successfull}^ inaugurate and con- 
tinue the x)rocess of extermination and the preven- 
tion of serious damage by them, at least so far as 
our agricultural products are concerned. 

As I have said before, it is not my intention to 
treat of this bug, and also of the cotton worm, by 
the use of any scientific nomenclature ; in fact, I 
shall ignore it entirelv, for that to the practical agri- 
culturist is but little cared for; he has quite enough 
of that already, perhaps too much, so I will confine 
myself to a plain, unvarnished talk, which shall be 
intelligible, even to the uneducated farmer, if such 
there be, and abo^^e all, to the means to best in- 
sure THEIR FINAL EXTERMINATION. 

The Potato Bug hibernates, or goes into Winter 
quarters, beneath the surface of the ground, to various 



21 

depths, according to the latitude, in out of the wa.v 
places, under decaying vegetable matter, rubbish, 
rotten wood, &c., and issue from them as perfected 
beetles, during the first warm days of Spring. The 
females, which in comparison with the males, are 
almost wingless, deposit their eggs in large numbers, 
a thousand or so, upon the young potato plants, or 
on any tender vines, on the underside of the leaves. 
In about ten or twelve days these eggs become lar- 
vae or grubs, after which they enter the ground, 
first turn to pupa and then to beetle, which last 
state is assumed in about one month from the time 
of hatching. There are usually three broods in the 
course of the Summer, and they may be found in 
any of those months in different stages. The num- 
ber produced by each female averages nearly a 
thousand. The whole cycle of transformation re- 
quires only a month and the last batch of beetles is- 
sue from the ground in early Fall, and these are 
probably the progenitors of the species, and as we 
have just stated enter it again to pass the Winter. 
It is apparent from this, that if the first brood of 
Spring can be checked, they cannot multiply into 
such immense numbers. The early Spring is there- 
fore the best time to be on the watch for them to de- 
stroy them, 

Of the remedy to be used to destroy them, I shall 
speak at length after I have spoken of 4he cotton 
worm, for it is the same in both cases. 

THE COTTON WORM. 

Unlike the potato bug, the history of the Cotto:n' 
W OEM is ancient. We have accoun ts of it long before 
the war of the Revolution, and as early as the year 
1793 it is reported to have destroyed the entire 



22 

crop of Georgia. Early in the present century its 
great injuries were officially reported by several 
State authorities to the Patent Office at Washington, 
long before the Bureau of Agriculture was estab- 
lished, and the multiplicity of such cases doubtless 
primarily led to the establishment of that Bureau. 
It has ever since continued to do more or less dam- 
age to almost every cotton crop planted. 

The Cotton Worm proceeds from its parent moth, 
the female of which deposits its eggs in large num- 
bers, from six to eight hundred, on the underside of 
the leaves of the plant, and are so small in size as 
to be difficult of detection. According to some au- 
thorities they hatch within three days. The worms 
at first feed upon the tender part of the plant, but 
in a few days more w ill devour any part. When 
the worms have completed their growth, which is in 
about four weeks, they fold over the edge of a leaf 
which they line with a silken fibre, and soon change 
to chrysalids ; after remaining in this state for from 
14 to 20 days, according to the weather, the moth 
emerges, in which state they are harmless to vege- 
tation except through their egg producing capacity, 
and from thence out their existence is very short. 
The female probably dies as soon as the eggs are 
laid. As in the potato bug, it is the last brood that 
causes the damage in the following season, for it is 
the chrysalids of the late Fall that only remain in a 
torpid state during the Winter and emerge in early 
Spring. 

The Cotton Caterpillar feeds twice a day and only 
for about four weeks. They seldom commence be- 
fore 9 o'clock in the morning and then eat continu- 
ously until noon, when they retire back to their 
nests, often guided back thereto by an almost im- 



23 

perceptible strand of web, which they extend as 
far as they go. In the afternoon they again re- 
sume their ravages until sundown, when they again 
retire to their nests as before. My knowledge of 
this is practical, and not theoretical, or from books. 
I have in several instances, in the County of Yazoo 
in the State of Mississippi, and in the parishes of 
Rapides, Pointe-Coupee and others in the State of 
Louisiana, been fairly awakened at a late morning 
hour by the united munching of myriads of those 
horrible pests in a contiguous cotton field where all 
Avas serene and quiet only the day before, and I 
have been a helpless looker-on and seen in less than 
three days every thing green eaten up, and all hopes 
of any crop utterly blasted. 

But now for the remedy. Had those planters of 
whom I have Just spoken taken the proper precau- 
tion to have gone through their fields the Fall be- 
fore, and carefully picked and burned the numerous 
turned down leaves which they would have found 
containing the chrysalids, a very large share of ihe 
crop might have been saved ; but this being ne- 
glected, and no available remedies at hand, or in time 
to be procured, the work of devastation was fully 
estabhshed. 

First of all I recommend that treatment, but even 
then it is often requisite to bring into requisition 
some artificial remedies ; of these Paris green is more 
extensively used than any other, and there is no 
denying the fact that it is an efl:ective agent for 
their destruction. If it were not for its terribly 
poisonous properties to human life, I would not be 
here to-day in the advocacy of any other remedy, 
but I am constrained to the belief, from the numer- 
ous I>EATHS THAT HAVE OCCURRED FROM ITS USE, 



24 



FROM THE HUNDREDS OF CASES OF S1a.KNESS THAT 
IT HAS OCCASIONED, FROM THE MANY ULCEROUS 
AND MALIGNANT SORES THAT IT HAS CAUSED, THAT 
SOME OTHER REMEDY MUST SUPERSEDE IT. 

(ONLY ONE INSTANCE AMONG HUNDREDS. 

From the New York Times, July 13, 1879. 

POISONED IN A STRANGE WAY. 

A correspondent of the JSewburg Journal, writing from Highland 
Falls, says that Charles Smith, on the other side of the river, while shak- 
ing from a duster dry Paris Oreen on his potatoes a few days ago, in- 
haled some of the poison, and died on Wednesday last in great agony. 
He was aged 32, was the son of Samuel Synith, and leaves a large 
family. It is said the loind was Uoicing hard at the time, and this 
caused the poison to fly about so that Mr. Smith inhaled it.) 

In this interest, I have experimented for a series of 
years with a view to provide a remedy that was not 
so DEADLY POISONOUS. I have at last succeeded, 
with the assistance of other chemists, in perfecting 
a safe, sure and easily used destructive agent to 
all forms of insect life, one which is not so 

POISONOUS TO THE HUMAN FAMILY. 

PROFESSOR MITCHELL'S 
COLEOTHANATINE 

is a substitute for paris green in the extermina- 
tion of the COTTON v^oRM and potato bug, and 
will positively convince all who try it that all forms 
of household insects, such as cockroaches, croton 
BUGS, BED BUGS, MOTHS, ANTS, ETC, cau be quickly 
and easily exterminated by its use. 

It can be used either dry or made liquid by the 
addition of water, and in the opinion of all who 
have used it stands 



25 

u2<:equalled and unrivalled 

as the safest, surest, cheapest, easiest applied, and 
MOST EFFECTIVE INSECTICIDE ever placed on the 
market for general sale. 

All oilier caterpillars, those that infest grape 
vines and all other tender leaves and plants, lice 
on rose hushes, &c., cfec, can he at once extermi- 
nated with Coleothanatine. 

Time fails me to go into any description of cock- 
roaches, bed bugs, moths, ants, &c., &c., as I at first 
intended, (I have written it, but am obliged to i)as3 
over it). I claim and assert that all those loathsome 
pests are almost instantly destroyed by Professor 
Mitchell's Coleothanatine. 

I cordially invite correspondence upon the sub- 
ject of VERMIN AND INSECT LIFE, addressed to me 
at my residence, No. 956 Eighth Avenue, New 
York, assuring all who write me that I will cheer- 
fully hold myself in readiness to impart a fair share 
of the practical knowledge I have gained, especially 
in regard to the Cotton Worm, during my thirteen 
years residence in the States of Louisiana and Mis- 
sissippi. 

Again thanking you, as before, for the kind atten- 
tion you have accorded me, I beg to assure the Far- 
mers' Club, and all other agriculturists, that I 
will do all I can to aid in assisting the golden char- 
iot of agriculture to ride triumphantly onward until 
the last impediment to perfected fruition is fully 
overthrown, and a reasonable assurance of a full 
crop shall inure, the elements excepted, to him who 
plants and labors to that end. 



Important Notice. 



FOREIGN INSECT POWDER. 

The fact that Cockroaches, Croton Bugs, Ants, etc, etc., 

still continue to infest almost every Kitchen and Pantry, not- 
withstanding the general and universal use of tW above-named 
article, is conclusive evidence that the Imported. Insect Powder is not 
as efficient an agent for their destruction and extermination as it is 
claimed to be, and that some more potent remedy is required. 

PROFESSOR MITCHELL'S 

COLEOTHANATINE 

WILL POSITIVELY SECURE TO EVERY HOUSEHOLD 

Entire Freedom from all forms of loathsome 
INSECT LIFE. 



Try it and be Convinced. 



It can be used dry with any ordinary "Insect Powder Gun," or 
made into solution in the proportion of a tablespoonf ul of Coleo- 
THANATiNE to ouc Quart of rain water or boiled water. 



Two Sizes : Price 50c. and $1.00 per Pkge. 

(large packages.) 



A package sent paid, or C. O. D., by addressing Dr. R. T. 
Creamer {Analytical Chemut and Entomologist), No. 956 Eighth 
Ave., New York, to whom all applications for sample packages 
must be made. 

Messrs. DAVID M. S TIGER & CO., 

Wholesale Druggists, No. 8 Barclay St., New York, 

Wholesale Agents. 



n 



ANEW DISCOVERY! 

Equal, if not superior, to PARIS GREEN as a 
Destroyer of the 

POTATO BUG AND COTTON WORM, 

And not so Poisonous to. Human Life. 

In alluding- to Paris Green Dr, Creamer says: "i'Vw;/ the numci-otis 
deaths that have occurred throitgh its use, from tJic /lundirds of cases of 
sickness it has occasioned, frojit tlic )/mny maligna nl aiui ulcerous sores it 
has caused, I am cojistrained to the belief that some other remedy must 
supercede it.'' Before Farmeis^ Club, at Cooper Institute, Ne^v York, 
July I, 1879. 

PROFESSOR MITCHELL'S 

COLEOTHANATINE, 

The Great Insecticide of the 1 9//^ Century I 

E^* Invaluable to the Agriculturist for the complete and thorough 
extermination of the 

POTATO BUG AND COTTON WORM, 

And all WORMS AND INSECTS destructive to VEGETABLE 
LIFE. 

31^" Indispensable to Housekeepers, &c., for the destruction of 
COCKROACHES, CROTON BUGS, BEDBUGS,. MOTHS, ANTS, 
&c.,&c. 



SireMaECfitoallflmsoflKtLife. 



COLEOTHANATINE, although comparatively a new discovery, has 
rapidl}'- made its way to public favor, and in the opinion of all who 
have used it, stands UNEOUALED AND UNRIVALED as the 
SAFEST, SUREST, CHEAPEST AND MOST EFFECTIVE IN- 
SECTICIDE now before the public. 

Two Sizes. Price 5 or. and %\. 00 per Package {Large Pkgs) 

A Sample Package sent postpaid on receipt of the price, with lo 
cents added for postage. 

Sold by all Druggists and dealers in General Merchandise. 

JTW^ Full directions, &c. , accompany each box. 

Prepared under the superintendence of Dr. ROBT T. CREAMER, 
Analytical Chemist and Entomologist, No. 956 Eicirni Ave- 
nue, New York, to whom all applications for a Sample Pk'ge 
must be made. 

Messrs. DAVID M. STIGER & CO., Wholesale Druggists, 

No. 58 BARCLAY STREET, NEW YORK, 
WHOLESALK AGENTS. 



Important to Every Family. 



HOW TO PREVENT THE SPREAD 



Contagio^cs Diseases and Epidemics, 



ASK YOUR DRUGGIST OR MERCHANT FOR PAMPHLET WITH 
OFFICIAL ENDORSEMENT OF 

JAME:S MEYER., Jr.'s 

GIRONDIN. 

INODOROUS, COLORLESS. 

It is the most Effective, Powerful and Cheapest 

Disinfectant and Deodorizer. 

Destroys and Neutralizes the most Offensive Odors and Poisonous 
CTases, arising from any Source of Infection. 

ARRESTS AND PREVENTS CONTAGION. 



SIX YEJ^RS SJE^KREST TESTS. 



SOLD B V ALL DRUGGISTS AND FAMILY GROCERS 
In Quart Bottles. In Ten Gallon Kegs, Half Barrels and Barrels. 



Special Contracts with Governments, Municipalities and Corporations. 



PASSAIC CHEMICAL CO., NEW YORK, 

General Agents for the U. S. and Canada. 

The Girondin has for years been on the Supply List of the Com- 
missioners of Public Charities and Corrections and the Board of Edu- 
cation of the City of New York, for use in all the Public Institutions. 



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